


The Camera

by fire_of_1584



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M, Halloween
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 22:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16438433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fire_of_1584/pseuds/fire_of_1584
Summary: Judy finds an old vintage camera in an abandoned house while on duty. She takes a few pictures with it and sees an angry spirit in the photos, which follows her home and haunts her. Judy tries to figure out how to get rid of it and whether she can let Nick know without him thinking she's insane.





	The Camera

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Camera (comic)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/428144) by Zalgo. 



DING!

Judy’s ear immediately shot up and pointed towards the expired meter. She slowed down and pulled over with a heavy sigh. It had been another long, boring day. Nick noticed her reluctance and smiled over at her.

“Relax, Carrots. I got this one,” he offered as he unbuckled and stepped out of their small, three-wheeled traffic vehicle.

“Thanks, Nick,” she responded, resting her head on the driver’s wheel. She listened to the beeps of Nick’s ticket machine and a few seconds later felt the small vehicle tilt to the side as Nick got in.

“I think everyone knows you’re here,” he said, trying to drum up some conversation. “That’s what, only fifteen tickets in the last hour?”

“Fourteen,” Judy mumbled. “We can go patrol a different area if you want.” She put the cart in drive and started down the street.

“C’mon, Carrots. I know it’s not exciting, but we only have boring days like these because on the other days we do such a good job of making the world a better place,” Nick nudged her shoulder, hoping to cheer her up.

“I know, I know. You’re right.” Judy felt a little guilty that the senior officer needed to receive a pep talk from her rookie partner. They drove in silence for another minute before Nick leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“If you want, I could probably convince Duke to steal something so you could chase him around a bit. Just like old times!”

“Nick!” she scolded. “We are officers of the law, and we do NOT encourage mammals to commit crimes.” Her eyebrows were furrowed, but Nick could tell she was attempting to hold back a smile.

“You say that, but I can tell you were considering my offer for a second there,” Nick teased in a singsong voice, feeling his spirits lift as their usual banter returned.

“Was not!” Judy laughed, reaching over to give Nick a shove, which caused the cart to swerve to the side of the lane. A high-pitched car horn sounded from the rodent lane as Nick yelled at her to keep her eyes on the road. She quickly turned her focus back to her driving, but there was now a smile on her face, and her ears were straight up again. “Dumb fox,” she muttered.

“You know you love me,” he immediately shot back, leaning back into his seat and relaxing with an impish grin on his face.

Judy snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Can’t live without you.” She paused and looked over to her partner with a smirk. “ _ Most _ days.” Nick immediately sat up and put on an expression of feigned offense.

“I beg your pardon, Officer Fluff! I, your foxy friend, brighten  _ all _ your days. I’m not sure how you managed to stay sane while I was at the Academy.”

Realizing how quickly he had turned her sour mood around, she wasn’t quite sure, either. Not that she’d admit that. “Oh, really?” she said, playing along. “You ‘brighten all my days’?” Judy accentuated each word with air quotes on her right paw.

Nick threw his arms upward. “And now my honor has been brought into question!” Judy bit down a giggle at his exaggerated theatrics.

Judy put her paw on her chin as she pretended to think. “Let’s see, I will admit that you have cheered me up whenever I needed it recently… especially today. Thank you, Nick.” Her voice reflected genuine gratitude for a moment as she looked him in the eye. A warm feeling filled her chest as Nick’s facade dropped for a moment and he gave her an unguarded smile.

“However,” Judy squinted at him suspiciously, “there was last Thursday…” Nick’s ears flew back and his eyes widened. Judy cocked her head to the side and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to kno-”

“Hopps, are you there?” Clawhauser’s friendly voice over the radio interrupted her train of thought. “Looks like we’ve got an incident for you guys to check out.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Judy reached for the radio like lightning, picking up the transmitter and pressing down. “This is Hopps, what’s the location?”

“1055 Acacia Avenue,” came the reply.

“Acacia Avenue?” Judy gave Nick a confused look. She pressed down the radio button. “That’s on the other side of the precinct; it would take half an hour to get there if the traffic’s good, which it probably won’t be.” She noted how low the sun was getting and knew that rush hour traffic would be starting soon.

“Affirmative,” came the response over the radio. “We’ve received multiple noise complaints today about that building. All other officers are busy.”

“Alright, we’re on our way. Thanks, Clawhauser.” With that, Judy clicked the radio back into place and took a right turn.

Nick grunted. “‘All officers are busy’, huh? Sure, doing actual assignments.”

Judy’s eyebrow raised as she frowned in concern. “Just a minute, what happened to ‘boring days are a result of making the world a better place’, huh?” She gently elbowed him in the side. “Where’s the fox who was ‘brightening my day’ just a few minutes ago?”

Nick exhaled softly. “I’m just saying that Bogo - turn left here, Carrots.” She did so without hesitation, waiting patiently for him to continue. “-usually we get normal assignments, but every now and then I feel like we get pushed aside because we’re the smallest cops on the force.”

“Nick, you know Chief Bogo trusts us-” Judy began.

“He trusts  _ you _ .” Nick interjected. “And you trust me, I know that. Sometimes more than I deserve.” He put up a paw to stop her before she could protest his last statement. “Sometimes I worry he carries a bit of a grudge for our little interaction after we visited Manchas.”

Judy digested this for a minute, carefully choosing how to proceed. She reached over and placed her paw on his arm, happy that he didn’t pull away. “This will get better with time,” she told him. “You’re a great cop, and every day you give Chief Bogo more and more examples of that. And he doesn’t exactly wear his emotions on his sleeve, other than anger, of course.” Nick chuckled at this. “Eventually you’ll learn to recognize the little ways that Chief Bogo shows his pride and trust in us. And for the record, he  _ does _ trust you. You wouldn’t be on the force for this long if he didn’t.” She looked over at Nick and smiled. “He did read my full report on the Nighthowler case, after all.”

Nick mulled that over, his expression lightening and his ears slowly raising to their normal position. He didn’t like to take too much credit for catching Bellwether; it had mostly been Judy, anyway. But it felt good to know that his actions made his partner - and surprisingly, his boss - think that he was a trustworthy mammal. He’d just have to work hard to live up to their expectations. Especially Judy’s.

Judy took her paw from his arm and let the rest of the drive pass in comfortable silence.

 

\-----

 

The sun was just starting to set as they arrived at Acacia Avenue. “Ten-fifty-one, ten-fifty-three…” Judy counted as they drove past the houses. “And here we are, ten-fifty… five?” She looked up at an old abandoned building, most of the yellow paint having peeled away to reveal gray wood underneath. Almost all the windows on the ground floor had been broken, although the second-floor windows were intact.

Judy was about to step out of the vehicle when Nick stopped her. “Hey, Carrots… Thanks. For what you said earlier.” He rubbed his neck awkwardly.

Judy smiled back at him. “Anytime, Slick. And as I recall,  _ you _ were the one cheering  _ me _ up just a few minutes before. So thank you for that.” She hopped out of the cart and made her way towards the front door. “Now, let’s see if we can figure out what’s making all the noise.”

The door opened slowly with a loud creak. “ZPD!” Judy called into the house. “We’ve received complaints about loud noises coming from this building. Is anyone here?”

There was no response, so the two officers stepped inside. Nick found a light switch and flicked it on and off a few times. The electricity must have been cut off long ago, so Judy pulled out her flashlight. There was enough light coming through the windows that Nick’s low-light vision would suffice for the time being.

“It’s pretty dusty in here,” Judy stated as she swept her flashlight’s beam across the main room. She turned to Nick. “Well, let’s split up!” she joked.

“Oh, I agree,” Nick smirked. “That sounds like the best way to find the axe-murderer.”

Judy chuckled. “Well, there’s a reason that’s against protocol. Make sure you can see me, the front door, and the staircase, just in case someone tries to get out while we’re here.” Taking the lead, she went to the entrance of each room, peering inside of each. Even for an abandoned house, there was surprisingly little there. One of the rooms had a broken bed frame with no mattress. Every light fixture had the bulbs either broken or removed. The main room had a fireplace and a small end table with an old camera on it. There was no sign that any other mammal had been there recently.

“All clear,” she said softly, not sure why she was lowering her voice. “Let’s check the second floor.” The top floor was just like the first; plenty dusty, virtually empty, and nothing out of the ordinary. The two returned to the first floor. Nick walked over to look through a small pile of garbage, but didn’t find anything of interest.

Judy growled softly. She had hoped getting a call would be  _ more _ exciting than ticketing cars, not less. She eyed the camera on the stand, lightly setting her flashlight down so she could lift the camera with both paws. It was designed for a mid-sized mammal, but was small enough that she could still handle it. She glanced at Nick as a mischievous smile grew on her face.

“Hey, Nick!” He turned with a surprised look on his face as Judy pointed the camera at him and pressed the shutter button, flashing a bright light. She giggled as the camera pushed out a self-developing photo with a whir.

Nick raised an eyebrow and had a sly smirk on his face. Judy recognized that look. “Oh, boy,” she muttered as Nick started posing for her. Pointing a finger-gun at the camera. Click! Over the shoulder, looking contemplative. Click! Paws on the back of his head, stretching towards the camera. Click!

Judy gathered her four photos together and watched in the dim lighting as pictures started to form in them. “I can’t wait for you to see how  _ ridiculous _ you look.” While she was distracted with the photos, Nick snuck up and plucked the camera from her paws.

“My turn!” he said with glee.

Judy reached upwards towards the old camera. “Hey, careful!”

Nick took a few steps back and pointed the camera at Judy. “C’mon, strike a pose,” Nick encouraged. She put her paws on her hips and gave him her best not-amused face. “You know you want to.”

Judy rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she finally gave in, dropping one arm and jutting her hips slightly to one side, giving an easy smile for the camera.

Click! Nick reached for the photo. “Pretty cute, Carrots.”

Judy was about to give her usual lecture on calling her “cute” when she suddenly found it difficult to breathe. She coughed a couple times, hoping to clear the dust out of her lungs, but it didn’t help. She put a paw on her throat and started coughing harder and harder.

“Carrots?!” Nick started to panic, dropping the antique camera to the floor face-down. With a loud crack, the lense shattered.

Judy coughed a few more times and was finally able to breathe enough to form a sentence. “Way to go, Nick,” she berated. “I can’t breathe in here. Come on, let’s go.” She walked over to the table and grabbed her flashlight, turning it on and pointing it at the photos she had collected.

“Almost done developing,” she commented.

Nick sighed sadly. “Only got the one…”

Judy glanced over at the broken glass around the camera. “Since you destroyed that vintage camera, I’d say it’s one more than you deserve.” Nick pouted, and Judy recognized an opportunity for some teasing she couldn’t quite resist.

“If you want pictures of me that badly, all you have to do is ask.” She lowered her voice and tried to sound as seductive as possible. “I’ll send you some good ones. Just for you.”

She felt her cheeks warm when she saw Nick’s eyes go wide and his tail start wagging. “W-well, you have my number!” he stuttered as he headed out the door. “I’ll be waiting in the Joke Mobile!”

Judy smiled. It wasn’t often she was able to get the hustler so flustered. She turned back to the photos. What she saw caused her jaw to drop. There was a face.

The face was barely noticeable in the first photo, behind Nick as he was crouching. In the second photo there was plainly a stretched out figure of some sort, but the image was still blurry. Whatever it was, she definitely hadn’t seen it while she was taking the picture. The third was much clearer. Judy could make out the figure’s wide, gaping mouth, horned head, and large, glowing eyes. It was in front of Nick, reaching menacingly towards the camera - towards her - with an eerie, long-clawed paw. Judy felt her heart rate quicken.

In the fourth photo it was right in front of the camera, only one of its horns and a large white eye with a tiny pinprick of a pupil visible. She gulped. Right after that was when she had started choking… There was a creak behind her. She twirled around and frantically pointed her flashlight around the room. Nothing had changed. Her light fell upon the camera, lying innocently on the ground.

Sufficiently freaked out, she shoved the photos into her pocket and ran out the door. Sprinting to the driver’s side of the traffic vehicle, she shouted, “Nick!”

“Waah!” Nick yelled, clutching his chest. They both noticed that the other was out of breath.

“What’s wrong?” they asked simultaneously. An awkward pause followed. Judy broke the silence first.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she assured her friend. “I just realized I was still surrounded by that terrible dust, so I hurried out here.” Hoping to distract from her lie, she turned the question on him. “Are you okay?”

“Of course, of course. You just surprised me, is all.” Nick’s confident grin had replaced his earlier worried expression. He had discreetly slipped the photo he had been staring at into his chest pocket. “Anyway, our shift’s almost up. We should head back to headquarters and fill out the paperwork for this.”

Judy nervously agreed, jumping into the cart and speeding off, not wanting to look back at the old house.

 

\-----

 

Traffic was much better on the way back, and forty-five minutes later they were clocked out and heading for the subway together. Neither had brought up what had happened, except to fill out the uneventful report for the noise complaint.

The awkward silence pursued until it was time to board their different trains.

“Well… see you tomorrow!” Judy finally said.

“Carrots, wait.” Nick considered whether to tell her about what he had seen in the photo. He didn’t want to have her needlessly worry, especially if it was simply a trick camera like he hoped. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened to her because he didn’t give her some kind of warning.

“Just… be careful tonight, okay?”

Judy tilted her head to the side. Nick’s caution seemed out of place, until she remembered what she had seen in those photos. She quickly dismissed the thought. They had left whatever had happened at the old house, so she’d be safe as long as they didn’t have to go back.

“I’ll be fine, Nick. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Nick put on a grin to hide his concern. “Well, don’t be afraid to call me if you need anything.”

Judy smiled. “Will do, you big softie! See you tomorrow, bright and early.” With that, she headed home, still slightly shaken, but happy for the day to be over.

 

\-----

 

Judy laid down on her bed, eyes wide open. Her clock read a little after 11 o’clock. She glanced over at the corner of her room and saw it. The ghost… apparition… demon? She had no clue what it was, but it seemed to be sucking what little light there was out of the corner it was in. She closed her eyes tight, hoping it was just a hallucination of some sort and that it would be gone in the morning. Opening one eye a crack, she found the corner to be empty. She raised an eyebrow, wondering why it had left.

_ CREAK _ . Judy felt the old springs in her mattress sink a bit lower. She inhaled sharply as her eyes shot wide open. She could sense the creature just inches behind her, taking slow, deep breaths that sounded almost like pained moaning. Staring straight ahead, she held her tense muscles as still as possible, expecting every moment to be her last.

 

Waiting…

 

Waiting…

 

Waiting…

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on the fancomic of the same name by Zalgo: http://imgur.com/a/HFXxE
> 
> After reading the comic a few dozen times for inspiration, it occurred to me that they may be two separate stories, considering how different the two monsters look. So moving forward, this story will follow the appearance of the horned ghost with large, white eyes, not the ghost with long ears and tiny white dots for eyes. The story will be four chapters total. Hope you enjoy, and happy Halloween!


End file.
